Reaction to the release of Michael Hastings’ autopsy report, which as expected ruled his death to be an accident caused by massive blunt trauma, has been varied, with many pointing out that it does little to answer the questions surrounding the Rolling Stone journalist’s suspicious car crash.

Image: Michael Hastings

Some are claiming that the report puts the “conspiracy theories” about the journalist’s death to bed despite the fact that it does not answer virtually every question that has been posed – such as why Hastings’ new Mercedes burst into flames with witnesses describing “explosions.”

The autopsy report states that Hastings had small amounts of marijuana and amphetamine in his blood, but that this would not have impaired his driving at such low levels.

It also twice references two empty alcohol bottles found at the scene of the crash as if to suggest that they could have belonged to Hastings despite the fact that no alcohol was found in his blood.

Why does the report feel the need to focus on the two bottles? Are we to believe that Hastings threw them out of the window in the moments before his high speed crash?